foster



(No Model.) 3 Sheets.8heet 1.

M. 11. POSTER. AUTOMATIC SALESMAN.

Patented Dec. 1,1891.

I la/ T: NOMXS PETEnS cm, mom-umm, WASHINGTON, n. c.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

M. H. POSTER. AUTOMATIC SALESMAN.

067, Patented Dec. 1, 1891.

QQO 00 000 00 1': News PETERS co PHDTOU'THO summon, 04 c4 (No Model.) 3She,etsSh e.et '3';

M H. FOSTER. AUTOMATIC SALESMAN.

No. 464,067. Patented Dec. l ,jl89l.

1115 uonms reruns cm, mow-mum, WASMINGYON, n. c.

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

-MATTHE)V H. FOSTER, OF HAVERHILL, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR' TO CHARLESWV. MORSE, OF SAME PLACE.

AUTOMATIC SALES MAN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 464,667, datedDecember 1, 1891. Application filed July 15, 1890 Serial No. 358,868.(No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MATTHEW H. FOSTER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Haverhill, in the county of Essex and State ofMassachusetts, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements inAutomatic Salesmen, of which the following, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, is a specification.

My invention relates to certain improvements in apparatus forautomatically effecting the sale and delivery of goods of various kindsby the insertion in the apparatus of a coin or coins amounting to thevalue of the article to be delivered.

The invention consists of a series of hinged shelves, upon'which thearticles to be sold are placed, said shelves being supported byspring-bolts, and means for releasing one shelf at a time as the coinsare deposited in the apparatus; also, in means for preventing thearticles being delivered except by coins of the proper value, and invarious details of construction, as hereinafter fully set forth, andpointed out in the claims. I

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a verticaltransverse section of an automatic salesman embodying my invention.Figs. 1, 1 and 1 are detail views. Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken online so a: of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a rear view of the coin-detector. Fig. 4is a vertical section taken through line y y of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a rearview of the magnet, slot, and cover. Fig. (i is a vertical section takenon line 2 z of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a side View of the coin-guide leadingfrom the slot to the chute. Fig. 8 is a vertical section of the same,taken on line to w of Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is a view of one side of themechanism for operating the slide that releases the shelves. Fig. 10 isa view of the other side of the same, and Fig. 11 is a plan view.

A represents the case, of wood or other suitable material,and B a doorin the side of the same. (See Fig. 2.)

C is a shelf that inclines from the rear to the front of the casing andleads to a slot C, through which the articles to be sold are delivered.To the rear part of the case above the said shelf are hinged a number ofshelves D, that support the articles to be sold.

E is a frame carrying a number of springbolts F. 0 one side of thisframe is secured a plate provided with a series of slots g, that areslightly wider at the rear end. (See ward the front of the casing; butwhen a bolt is pressed back it is retained in place by the pin f beingpressed down into the enlarged portion of the slot g in the frame G.These bolts support the forward end of the shelves D, as shown. (SeeFig. 1.)

At the rear of but above the slot I, through which the coins areinserted, is'secured a powerful magnet J, which if a piece of iron orsimilar metal should be inserted through the slot will attract the sameand prevent its operating the machine, as hereinafter described.

To the inside of the casing, just bclowthe slot, is secured a coin-guidethat conducts the coin from the slot I to the chute K. This guide isshown detached in Figs. 7 and 8, and consists of two side plates L, eachprovided with a small recess Z, the space across being the exact widthof the coin intended to be employed, the coin being supported on eachside by the small lips Z, so that if the coin is of smaller diameter itwill fall through into the box Z. Over the top of this guide is arrangedwhat I term a coin detector or crusherthat is, a piece of metal M, ofabout the form shown and a little narrower than the space between thetwo plates L. The forward end of this piece M is provided with two earsor lugs m, that pass down by the sides of the plates L and aresecuredthereto by screws n, which form fulcrum s' upon which I the pieceM oscillates. One of theears is provided with a tail-piece n, to whichone end of a spiral spring N is connected, the

other end of the spring being secured to a 100 stud on the side of theplate L. The object of this spring is to hold the piece M in its normalposition-that is, just above the groove Zso that a coin can pass beneathit.

Above the piece M is a ratchet-shaped wheel P, mounted upon a shortshaft 1), carried by a frame Q, hinged at (1(see Fig. 1) to a piece R,secured to the front of the case. A spiral spring S is inserted betweenthe piece R and frame Q to keep them forced apart, and a screw-thrcadedbolt T is pivoted to the frame Q and passes through a slot in the pieceIt and is fitted with a thumb-nut t. The object of this bolt andthumb-nut is to regulate the distance that the frame Q is forced down bythe spring S.

Mounted upon the shaft 1') on each side of the ratchet wheel P is asmall sleeve, to which is hinged a series of arms U, an arm for eachtooth of the ratchet-wheel. These arms can move only in onedirectiom-that is, forward-as will be best seen in Fig. 1, which shows aposition of the ratchet-wheel and three of the arms drawn to a largerscale. Small spiral springs it, connected at one end to theratchet-wheel P and at the other end to the arms U, hold said arms intheir normal position, and the arms are of such alength that the armswhich stand in front of the piece M will extend down below the groove land prevent the coin or other article from passing down until it hasbeen tested.

To one end of the shaft 17 is secured a lever V. This lever is slightlybent, so as to pass out through an opening \V in the casing by the sideof the money-slot l, and to the upper and lower sides of this lever aresecured curved pieces X, that keep the opening "W covered at all times.To this lever V is pivoted a pawl U, (see Fig. 1,) that is held incontact with the teeth of the ratchet-wheel P by a spring '0. hen thelever V has been drawn down, it is returned to its normal position by aspring Y, connected to the lever and the frame Q. After the coin haspassed down the groove Z it passes into the chute K, from which it fallsupon the tail of the operating-lever of the delivering apparatus, whichis supported upon a shelf 1, and consists of a base 2, provided withstandards 8 3 4. In the standards 3 3 are mounted two shafts 5 (l, andupon the shaft 5 between the standards is secured a cog-wheel 7, that isin gear with a pinion 8 upon the shaft 6, which also carries a disk 9,provided on its circumferential face with two series of holes 10, (seeFig. 11,) into which pins 11 are secured,a pin for each coin that isrequired to deliver an article, viz: Supposing it is intended to sell atwo-cent article, such as a daily paper, two pins would be inserted intothe holes, and diametrically opposite two other pins would be inserted.One of these pins rests against a toothed plate or wheel 12, provided onits upper side with ratchet-teeth and secured to the standard 4 by ascrew 13 and spring 1a. The plate or wheel 12 has a tooth for everyalternate teeth of the ratchet that is'upon its upper side.

15 is a pawl that [its the ratchet-teeth on the top of the plate 12, andis mounted in the end of the operating-lever 10, that is fulcrumed at 17to the standard 4. This lever is kept in its normal raised position by aspring 18, and the pawl is kept depressed by a spring 19. The shaft 5extends beyond the standard 3 on one side, and has mounted thereon asprocket-wheel 20, over which is passed an endless chain 21, that alsopasses over a similar sprocket-wheel 22, mounted in a bracket 23,secured to the top of the casing. To this chain is secured a weight 24and a slide 26, each adj ustably secured thereto by thumbscrews 25 27.The slide on one side embraces a guide-rod 28, by which it is guided andheld in contact with the plate G.

hen the last article passes out of the apparatusthat is, when the topshelf D fallsthe slot I is automatically closed and an alarm is rung inin the following manner: At the rear of the slot I, just on one side, isa disk 30, having at its center a stud 31 formed in one with it or uponwhich it is free to turn.

(See Figs. 3, 5, and 6.) This disk is cutaway on one side, so that theedge 32 rests against the magnet J and the edge 33 is just on a levelwith the lower edge of the slot I when the apparatus contains anyarticles for sale, it being held in place by a rod 34;, extendingrearward and resting upon the front edge of the top shelf D, and whenthe last article is sold the said shelf falls,and the rod thus losingits support falls and turns the disk so as to close the slot, the edge33 passing up into a recess formed in the front edge of the magnet J, asshown in dotted lines in Fig. 5.

An alarm is rung to notify that the last article has been s0ld,asfollows: 10 represents a gong, (see Fig. 1,) and 4]. the hammertherefor,

operated by clock-work 42, secured inside the casing. \Vhen the topshelf D is supported by its bolt F, the hammer 11 is held up and cannotvibrate; but as soon as the shelf falls the hammer is operated by theclock-work and rings an alarm.

The operation is as follows: The thumbscrew 25 of the weight 21 isloosened and the weight slipped to the upper end of the chain 21 andthere secured. The thumb-screw 27 of the slide 26 is also loosened andthe slide slipped to the bottom of the chain 21. The shelves D are thenraised one by one and secured by the bolts F, as before described, thearticles to be delivered being placed upon them as they are being raisedor inserted after they are secured in place, as may be desired.

hen the upper shelf D is raised, the slot I is opened and the alarmlocked. Supposing the articles to be sold are two cents each, two

pins 11 will have to be secured into the disk 9 and diametricallyopposite two other pins. If the articles are of greater value, then anadditional pin would have to be inserted on both sides of the disk, onepin on each side for each coin. A person 110W drops a coin into the slot1, which passes down the guide L until arrested by the arms U exactlyunder the piece M. He then draws down the lever V, which, by pawl 17,causes the ratchet-wheel P to be rotated the distance of one tooth, saidtooth riding over the piece M, the wheel P being raised, and with ittheframe Q, the spring S exerting a certain pressure upon it, but notsuflicient to crush a good coin. The coin then passes down the chute Kand strikes the tail of the lever 16, which throws the pawl 15 forwardand moves the ratchetwheel 12 the distance of one tooth,thus moving itso that a space is presented opposite the pin, allowing it to passthrough, the weight 24: and the chain 21 causing the sprocketwheel 20,and with it the gearing, to turn as soon as the pin is released. Uponthe purchaser inserting the second coin and drawing down the lever Vthe.coin is tested as before and passes down the chute, striking thetail of lever 16, which again moves the ratchetwheel 12, so as torelease the other pin 11, and the disk 9 flies round until the pin thatwas on the opposite side comes into cont-act with the plate 12. Thegearing being thus released allows the weight 24 to fall and draws upthe slide 26, so as to bring it into contact with the pin fof the boltF, that supports the lowest shelf D. As soon as the pin is raised thespring H draws the bolt back and the shelf D falls'of its own weight,the paper or other article that was on it passing out of thedelivery-slot O. This operation is repeated until the last article isdelivered, when the top shelf D falls and closes the slot I and gives analarm, as before described. Should a person attempt to obtain goods byanything buta good coin, it will be detected. If ofiron, the magnet .Iwill attract itand it will be pushed off of the magnet and fall into thebox Z by the next coin inserted. If of lead or other soft material, itwill be bent by the piece M and forced through between the plates L intothe box Z, because it will not have sufficient strength to overcome theresistance of the spring S and raise the frame Q. It will be seen thatby this construction the articles are delivered one at a time by thefalling of a shelf, which is caused to be released by the semi-rotationof the disk 9, provided with pins that are released by the coins fallingupon the releasing-lever, and any number of pins may be employed,according to the value of the articles to be delivered. It will also beseen that the apparatus can be operated only by good coins of the propervalue.

\Vhat I claim as my invention is- 1. In an automatic salesman, a seriesof hinged shelves supported by spring-bolts and means for releasing oneshelf at a time by coins deposited in the apparatus, substantially asset forth. 1

2. In an automatic salesman, vided with pins, in combination a diskprowith a toothed plate having ratchet-teeth on its up- Witnesses:

per side'and a pawl and lever operated by coins falling upon the tail ofsaid lever for automatically releasing the pins to allow the disk torotate, substantially as set forth.

3. In an automatic salesman, a disk cut away on one side and mountedupon a stud on one side of the slot through which the coins areinserted, and a rod for holding said disk to keep the slot open or toclose the same by the falling of the rod, substantially as set forth.

'4. In an automatic salesman, a series of shelves D, hinged at theirrear ends, in combination with a series of spring-bolts H, mounted in aframe E, and a plate G, having a slot 9 for each bolt, substantially asshown and described.

5. In an automatic salesman, a series of hinged shelves D, frame E,spring-bolts F, and slotted plate G, in combination with sprocket-Wheels 20 22 and endless chain 21, weight 24,

and slide 26, substantially as set forth.

6. In an automatic salesman having a series of hinged shelves supportedby springbolts, the combination of a slide 26, endless chain 21, weight24, sprocket wheel 22, bracket 23, sprocket-wheel 20, shaft 5, cogwheel7, shaft 6, pinion 8, disk 9, pins 11, toothed plate 12,having'ratchet-teeth upon its upper surface, pawl 15, and lever 16,substantially as set forth.

7. In an automatic salesman, a coin-guide consisting of two plates L,having recesses .Z, in combination with a crusher M, ratchetwheel P,shaft 19, arms U, hinged to sleeves on each side of the ratchet-wheel P,springs to, lever V on shaft 19, frame Q, hinged to piece R, spring S,screw T, and thumb-nut 25, arranged and operated substantially as setforth.

8. An automatic salesman having the following elements: a series ofhinged shelves supported by spring-bolts, a slide for releasing saidbolts, means for operating said slide, a coin-detector, a disk forclosing the slot, and an alarm operated by the falling of the uppershelf, substantially as set forth.

9. In an automatic salesman, the disk 30, cut away on one side, stud 31,and rod 34, arranged and operated substantially as and for thepurposeIset forth.

10. In an automatic salesman,a stationary magnet arranged immediately atthe back of and above the slot through which the coins are inserted,whereby if a piece of iron is inserted through the slot it will beattracted and held by the magnet until pushed off by the insertion ofanother piece or coin, thus preventing it from entering the coin-guide,substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this'specification, in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses, on this 23d day of May, A. D.1890.

MATTHEIV H. FOSTER.

EDWARD H. BROWN, CHARLES E. How.

IIO

